Place
Amsterdam
The freest city in seventeenth-century Europe. Descartes lived here for privacy. Spinoza was born and excommunicated here. Locke found refuge here during exile. Its tolerance made modern philosophy possible.
Amsterdam in the seventeenth century was rich, crowded, and unusually willing to leave people alone. Ships from Asia and the Baltic unloaded at its quays, and its presses printed what other countries banned. Descartes moved here for privacy and said he could live unnoticed among a busy people minding their own business. Spinoza was born into its Portuguese Jewish community and expelled from it at twenty-three by a writ of unusual violence. Locke sheltered here in exile. The tolerance was partly principle and partly good for trade.
Thinkers Connected to Amsterdam
Descartes
I think, therefore I am. He doubted everything until he found one thing he could not doubt: the fact that he was doubting.
Spinoza
God and Nature are the same thing. He was excommunicated for saying it, ground lenses to earn a living, and published his masterwork after he died.
John Locke
The mind begins as a blank slate. All knowledge comes from experience. He wrote the philosophy that launched modern democracy.